Develop Bugs

[Q] How to back up entire phone before downgrade for root

Hey guys,
I've searched the forums to no avail regarding this.
I'm currently on a newer sense rom on my desire z: 1.82. Which means if I want to root I need to downgrade. Every guide I read always starts with: make a backup. Good idea, but all the "complete backup" tools (titanium backup, rom manager, ...) require root to do their work.
So how the hell can I get a complete system image (preferably all partitions) without root so I could later return to my current stock rom with all my settings? Clearly I seem to be missing something here. I tried to start rom manager and titanium backup with psneuter temp root but that didn't work either.
Thanks for your help.
Cheers,
elitem0b

You can't, actually.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z(etta Awesome) using XDA App

Well since there is no other answer yet I assume that you simply can't do it ... what a shame. Anyway, to answer my own question there is a way to at least back up the apps, settings and system apps.
In case anyone else may need this:
Code:
adb pull /system/app/ c:\backup\destination\system\app
adb pull /data/app/ c:\backup\destination\data\app
adb pull /data/data/ c:\backup\destination\data\data
adb pull /data/misc/ c:\backup\destination\data\misc
First line backs up system apps
Second line backs up custom apps
Third line backs up custom apps' data
Fourth line backs up settings (e.g. wifi settings)
I put the apps in exactly the same folder structure so I know what to restore to which location in case I want to.
PS: You end up backing up more than you are probably able to restore (e.g. system apps) but it can't hurt
Cheers,
elitem0b

You can use titanium backup after temp root. If gyou use the rage method there is very low risk of damaging anything or even try using visionary for temp root ONLY then delete it after your done backing up and getting work root. This will allow you to save apps and data. Looks like you figured out a way to save system data but I wouldn't bother if I were you. All your contacts are backed up on Google anyway. There's not a whole lot of data to save that's worth risking a brick after.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

elitem0b said:
Well since there is no other answer yet I assume that you simply can't do it ... what a shame. Anyway, to answer my own question there is a way to at least back up the apps, settings and system apps.
In case anyone else may need this:
Code:
adb pull /system/app/ c:\backup\destination\system\app
adb pull /data/app/ c:\backup\destination\data\app
adb pull /data/data/ c:\backup\destination\data\data
adb pull /data/misc/ c:\backup\destination\data\misc
First line backs up system apps
Second line backs up custom apps
Third line backs up custom apps' data
Fourth line backs up settings (e.g. wifi settings)
I put the apps in exactly the same folder structure so I know what to restore to which location in case I want to.
PS: You end up backing up more than you are probably able to restore (e.g. system apps) but it can't hurt
Cheers,
elitem0b
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I just finally managed to downgrade. Here is what I did to back up.
I used Astro to back up apps. I can easily restore apps after downgraded (but I have to firstly download Astro in order to restore apps)
Contact and calendar was backed up with Gmail.
Navigation map was saved in SD, so I didnt need to do anything.
But I lose my emails in hotmail account. I cant download the older mails (unlike GMAIL)
Now, my next step would be to gain permaroot
Cheers...

[CWM Scripts] Relatively painless backup/mod/restore scripts

Ok, these are specifically for MIUI, but they can easily be adapted to any other rom by editing the shell scripts. I'll explain how they work and it should be fairly apparent how one would need to modify for their particular rom/needs. Don't know if anyone will actually use these, but I thought I'd share. I also think it's a really good example of how CWM can be used for more than just flashing stuff.
So I've been running MIUI for a while now and I'm really happy. One little issue that popped up was every Friday when the rom was updated, the OTA update app icon gained a little "1" badge, indicating an update was available. While it's nice to be notified of the update, I occasionally didn't have the time or interest in updating so the little badge remained. I put that app in a folder, but then the folder had the little 1 badge. After a while, I started deleting the update app after install since I could always download and install updates through ROM Manager just as easily. Then I started deleting the update app from the downloaded ROM zip, along with several other apps I didn't want (Facebook, Twitter, the MIUI FileExplorer, etc) before flashing it. But this entailed downloading the Friday update on my phone, transferring it to my desktop, opening the zip in 7 Zip, deleting the unwanted files, uploading it back to my phone and then flashing. Quite a PITA.
Another issue I ran into was that the built-in MIUI backup app failed to backup my SMS/MMS messages. Actually, I don't know if it was failing to back them up, or failing to properly restore them, but at the end of the day, it wouldn't keep my text messages. I know I could avoid this by just installing each update over the current ROM, but I've always believed cleanly installing an OS helps avoid issues. I prefer to wipe everything, install clean and then restore my data.
So, the solution(s) I came up with was to mod the downloaded ROM zip file right on the phone, and manually backup and restore my data. While it took a little while to get set up, I find it actually works considerably faster and smoother than using MIUI's backup/restore app. I now have 3 simple shell scripts that are run through Clockwork Recovery just like installing any zip - one to mod the ROM after downloading, and two to backup and restore my data. Here they are:
MIUI-Mod.zip
This contains a shell script and a zip binary to handle the adding and deleting of files to/from the downloaded rom zip. When run through CWM, it copies zip and the script to /tmp and runs the script. Because the ROM zip is named differently every Friday, I figured the easiest solution was just to rename it manually. So, this script assumes the ROM zip is named "miui.zip" and is located in the root of the SD card. It's a simply matter to download the ROM on Friday, move it to /sdcard and rename it miui.zip. Here's what the script does in 2 commands:
/tmp/zip -d /sdcard/miui.zip /data/app/Twitter.apk /data/app/Facebook.apk /system/app/Email.apk /system/app/FileExplorer.apk /system/app/Gmail.apk /system/app/MIUI.us_Forums_1.1.2_AdSupported.apk /system/app/Superuser.apk /system/app/Updater.apk /system/app/MIUIStats.apk /system/media/lockscreen/* /system/media/wallpaper/*
/tmp/zip /sdcard/miui.zip /system/app/Gmail.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first line simply opens the zip and deletes the listed files: Twitter, Facebook, Email, etc. It also removes all the wallpapers for the lock and main screens (I don't use them, so I didn't want them, but it's a good example of the use of wildcards like *).
The second line adds in the Gmail.apk from my current ROM. The latest versions of the Gmail app included in MIUI lock the mail database, which conflicts with a widget I use, so I just replace it with an older version. Every time I run the script, it removes the included Gmail app and adds in my current one. If you didn't want to add anything to the ROM, you could just delete this line entirely.
Data-Backup.zip
This just runs a shell script that creates a tar file in the root of your sdcard containing the listed files and directories. Tar files retain file permissions and owner information, so everything can be restored seamlessly. Here's how it works, it's pretty simple:
tar -c -f sdcard/backup.tar data/app/com.adobe.flashplayer-1.apk data/data/com.adobe.flashplayer data/app/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer-1.apk data/data/com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer data/app/com.touchtype.swiftkey-1.apk data/data/com.touchtype.swiftkey data/data/com.android.browser data/data/com.android.deskclock data/data/com.android.launcher data/data/com.android.mms data/data/com.android.phone data/data/com.android.providers.contacts data/data/com.android.providers.settings data/data/com.android.providers.telephony data/data/com.android.providers.userdictionary data/data/com.android.thememanager data/data/com.android.vending data/data/com.google.android.gsf data/data/com.miui.camera data/data/com.miui.notes data/data/com.noshufou.android.su data/system data/misc/wifi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This creates the tar file and includes Adobe's Flash player and it's data, Root Explorer and it's data, and SwiftKey and it's data (I paired it down to just these three for this example). After that, it backs up a bunch of other data directories which include the current Browser settings, alarms, launcher settings and home screen layouts including widgets, phone logs, the current theme settings, any MIUI notes, current Wifi connections and, yes, SMS and MMS messages.
Obviously, you'd want to add in your specific apps and data directories. Sure, it takes a little work to set this up, but as I said, backing up is very quick and easy afterwards.
Data-Restore.zip
This just runs a shell script that restores all the files from the backup.tar on your SD card:
tar -xf /sdcard/backup.tar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't need much explanation.
So, the process is:
1-Download the Friday update through ROM Manager, move it to the root of my SD card and rename it to miui.zip
2-Reboot into CWM and run Backup-Data.zip to back up my apps and data
3-Run MIUI-Mod.zip to modify the downloaded MIUI rom
4-Wipe everything (cache/data/system)
5-Install the modded MIUI rom
6-Run Data-Restore to restore apps/data
7-Reboot
It's literally about 5 minutes after downloading the ROM and I'm updated and rebooted with a CLEAN os install and all my apps, data and settings intact, my home screen layouts, keyboard, wallpapers, wifi settings and everything retained.
Some notes:
1-Before running these in CWM, you have to make sure you have system, data and sdcard mounted since the scripts will be reading and/or writing to all of these. When you first reboot to CWM, just go to mounts and manually mount each one. The scripts could certainly be set up to mount them automatically, but mount points vary from phone to phone, and it's not difficult to mount through CWM. Also, after flashing a ROM, the ROM install script may unmount some of these, so before you restore your data, you might have to manually remount.
2-If you're adding anything from your current ROM to the zip (like how I add in my current Gmail.apk), make sure you wipe everything *after* running the mod script, otherwise you're deleting everything and then trying to copy file(s) that were just deleted.
3-I would highly recommend using Notepad++ to edit scripts, since it properly saves Unix line breaks.
4-as always, use at your own risk and a full CWM backup is highly recommended before messing with these.
That's pretty much it. Again, it does take a little while to get set up, but once it is, it's really simple. If you install a new app between updates, you just have to edit the backup script, or you can just keep the scripts maintaining a base setup and reinstall various apps through the market each time. This specific process is probably most useful for ROMs that are updated regularly - nightly or weekly, although I'm sure people can find other uses for running scripts through CWM.
Hope someone might find these useful.

This is really cool. I run Miui and would really like to be able to do a fresh install each week, but hate the hassle of resetting up my phone, even using Titanium backup, it's still a time consuming process. So needless to say, I flash the new rom over top of the old version without wiping just to save time.
So, basically I can open up the data restore zip in 7 zip, add in a few of my apps/data such as Tasker and so forth, close it and flash? If so, that will be great.
Thanks for sharing this!!!

You don't need to touch the Data-Restore.zip, all that does is extract the backup.tar file created with the backup script. What you'd do is open the Data-Backup.zip and edit the backup file (it's just a text file). Add in any of your apps and their corresponding data directories and when you flash the Data-Backup.zip in CWM, it'll back up those files/folders.
To find the files you want to backup, use something like Root Explorer and look in /data/app. There you'll find all the 3rd party apps you've installed. Add each one to the tar command in the backup file just like the ones I included. Then go into /data/data and find each app you want to back up's corresponding data folder. Add them to the tar command too.
Save the file, re-zip it and when you flash it through CWM, it'll back up the new files.

Just what i wanted
I also always install everything from clean system so setting up everything is a pain.
Would this work for Internal storage? I have a Motorola RAZR XT910 and running JBX roms.
Google does install all the apps when i sign in into the new rom but then i always had to move each folder to the correct destination manually using some file explorer. was thinking of making something like this but didnt know how to start. Thanks, I will now try and mod these to suit my phone :good:

[Q] how to backup /sdcard ?

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST BEFORE REPLYING. IF YOU DON'T I'LL JUST REPORT YOU FOR SPAM.
just spent an hour trying to find a way to do this and no such luck. i've read that clockworkmod recovery, when doing a factory wipe does not wipe the /sdcard but i still would like to be able to make a backup.
I've tried simply doing a copy/paste but windows refuses to even attempt it. even trying to do one folder at a time gives me issues. i've resorted to using airdroid for all my file transferring needs.
But using airdroid, even trying to do a backup, it eventually goes so slow that it fails. I have 4Gb of data i want to backup, and eventually it just stops transferring. i could do it one file at a time but honestly i don't feel like spending hours.
so does anyone know of any program, or possible easy way, that won't take days, to backup the /sdcard

You could always use cloud storage. Sugarsync gives you 5GB for free. Also, you could try running an FTP server app on your phone and then connect to it from your computer. I've used FTPServer in the past and it has been pretty quick to transfer lots of data.(https://market.android.com/details?...t#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImx1dGV5LkZUUFNlcnZlciJd)

yeah, i've thought of that, my internet at home isn't that great though. 6Mbps down, 1Mbps up. so cloud storage hasn't worked that great for me in the past, but maybe i'll give that ftpserver a shot.
BTW, i would like absolute confirmation that if i choose Wipe data/factory reset in CWMR Touch 5.504 beta 3 it won't erase any of the data on /sdcard.
as i've read, any CWMR won't erase the sdcard partition, but doing that through ICS, will.

Isn't CWMR 5.5.0.4 the non-touch version? I was using 5.5.0.4 and I can confirm that "Wipe Data/Factory Reset" does NOT erase anything on /sdcard, but I haven't actually done it in any other versions.

Hmm... what about using terminal/adb shell to build a .tar(.gz) of /sdcard and just copy that over to your PC?

codesplice said:
Hmm... what about using terminal/adb shell to build a .tar(.gz) of /sdcard and just copy that over to your PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like a good idea if possible. correct me if i'm wrong, but wouldn't that allow you to use adb to restore all of your sd contents as well?

palisaide said:
Isn't CWMR 5.5.0.4 the non-touch version? I was using 5.5.0.4 and I can confirm that "Wipe Data/Factory Reset" does NOT erase anything on /sdcard, but I haven't actually done it in any other versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
idk, mine has touch. not sure when/how i updated to it though. good to know that it doesn't though. thank you.

rsync backup for Android
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=871307
Since you're on Windows, you would need to setup an SSH server. People in that thread have done this. A Linux desktop would make things a tad easier though.
This is how I backup the microSD on all my phones.

neok44 said:
sounds like a good idea if possible. correct me if i'm wrong, but wouldn't that allow you to use adb to restore all of your sd contents as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe so. You'd of course have to find some other folder on your internal storage (not /sdcard) to store the tarball while it's being created.
Or heck, adb should be able to do it all for you:
Code:
adb backup -shared -noapk -nosystem
*should* (according to adb help output) backup your /sdcard to "backup.ab" in the current directory
Code:
adb restore backup.ab
*should* then restore it.

Also, checkout "adb backup"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1420351
Allows you to set a flag to include shared content (the microSD). You could probably get it to backup just shared content.

so i've gone through my whole sd card trying to figure out exactly how much data really needs to be backed up, and it's not much. biggest thing ist he 1.5GB CWM backup. everything else is pretty tiny.
so i'm thinking of giving the cloud a try.
are there any that anyone can recommend? I'm hoping for one that i'll be able to choose what folders to backup and have it automatically do it at a time that i set.

neok44 said:
so i've gone through my whole sd card trying to figure out exactly how much data really needs to be backed up, and it's not much. biggest thing ist he 1.5GB CWM backup. everything else is pretty tiny.
so i'm thinking of giving the cloud a try.
are there any that anyone can recommend? I'm hoping for one that i'll be able to choose what folders to backup and have it automatically do it at a time that i set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like dropbox + the DropSync app - best two-way cloud sync I've found yet.

Assuming you can get an MTP connection with your pc then try copying across the sdcard folders 1 at a time to back them up. First time I tried to back up the entire contents in a single go it seemed like it was stalled but it was actually just trying to work out how long it would take before starting and probably would have succeeded if left long enough. Copying the android folder and sometimes stall a copy so do that last.
Alternatively if you dont want to use cloud storage (which would take quite some time depending on upload speeds) you could try the backup option in my ToolKit which uses the latest version of adb and will give you an option to include internal storage in the backup file. Just make sure to check the backup file size after it completes as that function is a bit buggy in adb and has been known not to restore everything such as pictures and music so copy across what you can before starting.
Mark.

Thanks to both of you. I was able to do files one at a time and get them over. and luckily nothing was that big, except for the CWM backups. freaking 1.5GB, that alone is the reason why i wish i had a 32GB phone.
good to know that the toolkit has that option. i'll be sure to use that if i ever need to do a full backup in a hurry.
The dropbox dropsync solution sounds interesting and i'm gonna give that a try. basically i'm just trying to make sure my backup files from apps that don't use cloud syncing will be secure in case something ever goes wrong. with having only 13Gb in the phone i'm keeping most of my big stuff like movies in a 32gb microsd that i'm connecting with an OTG cable.

Although I don't think the tone of the first line of your OP is conducive to soliciting help, I'll thought in my two cents anyway.
The contents of your sdcard is located in /data/media. If you connect your phone to your PC, and open a command prompt in the same directory as your ADB.exe file, the following command will copy everything from your sdcard to your PC in a folder called sdcard_backup:
adb pull /data/media /sdcard_backup
Although not speedy by any means, I've successfully backed up over 8GB this way.

Is there another way to backup apps and their data?

Okay I'm really in need of a response from who knows the mechanic of backing up
I've two questions
1. I've noticed that u can actually flash apps with a zip file. So if I put my personal apps into the rom folder after extracting them and recompress, is it possible that my apps will also get flashed along w the rom?
2. I've also noticed when u do a factory reset in the recovery, it only deletes cache and data. If I copy the data folder to my sdcard and paste to the orig directory after factory reset, is it possible that the data will get restored?
I'm not just curious. I think if this is possible, it'll be much dependable
Thnx
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

christianyu said:
Okay I'm really in need of a response from who knows the mechanic of backing up
I've two questions
1. I've noticed that u can actually flash apps with a zip file. So if I put my personal apps into the rom folder after extracting them and recompress, is it possible that my apps will also get flashed along w the rom?
2. I've also noticed when u do a factory reset in the recovery, it only deletes cache and data. If I copy the data folder to my sdcard and paste to the orig directory after factory reset, is it possible that the data will get restored?
I'm not just curious. I think if this is possible, it'll be much dependable
Thnx
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes, put the app's APK under /data/app in your zip package (although I do think that you need to modify the updater-script a bit to make it actually flash the apps).
2. Depending on how you do it - you MUST keep ALL the files' and folders' permissions untouched (which is nearly impossible since there are just WAY too many of them), or when you simply copy back, the permissions will be messed up and you'll face continuous FCs. Better use apps like Titanium Backup or, if you're brave enough, try restoring only the /data partition from an existing nandroid backup.
Sent from Samsung Galaxy Nexus @ CM11

1. How do I modify the updater script?
2. Is it possible to restore only part of the nandroid backup?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

Titanium Backup is the best way. The way you are doing it sounds like a lot of unnecessary work.

look for an app called zipme from author jrummy on the play store

I wrote some code a long while back that allows you to pack/encrypt and unpack/unencrypt your own android backups so that you can do your own partial backups and restores.
See http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1730309
However, for the past 18 months, I have just used BackupPC to back up my android devices. BackupPC is a linux-based backup that allowd for automated backups with all types of options for incrementals & fulls. The backup files are pooled so that you can backup every day while requiring minimal extra space since only new files add to the poo size. It can use several different transport systems for the backup ranging from rsync to rsyncd to tar to ftp etc.
I use rsync (over ssh) since it is fast -- only the deltas need to be transported across the network when files change.
Basically, all you need to do is install ssh + rsync, modify the server side config file and then you get automatic backups at your own pre-determined frequency over wifi whenever your device is connected to the wifi network.
Now BackupPC is probably overkill for just backing up a droid -- since it is typically used to backup whole networks of linux, Mac, Windows, etc. pc's. But since I already use it to backup all my home computers, it was a cinch to modify the config file to also backup my droid devices.
I verified that it worked when my Gnexus broke and I was able to flash the replacement device which restored not just my apps and data but also all my settings.

jsgraphicart said:
Titanium Backup is the best way. The way you are doing it sounds like a lot of unnecessary work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. The play store has a bunch of other ones too but I would go with Titanium.

hsypsufan said:
I agree. The play store has a bunch of other ones too but I would go with Titanium.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using EaseBackup and I find it very good. Helium is another option but I found it buggy.

Way to backup and restore from PC (no root)?

At the moment I dont' want to unlock,root the phone and install TWRP because I'm fine with stock Rom, but there's a way to backup to pc and restore from pc as we can with TWRP recovery?
Thanks

failax said:
At the moment I dont' want to unlock,root the phone and install TWRP because I'm fine with stock Rom, but there's a way to backup to pc and restore from pc as we can with TWRP recovery?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADB Backup
https://9to5google.com/2017/11/04/how-to-backup-restore-android-device-data-android-basics/
Google search link with 1.590.000 hits
My command line is:
Code:
adb backup -apk -shared -all -system -f C:/user/Pixel2XL/adb_backup/mmddyy.ab
This backs up all user apps and data, all system apps and data, and shared storage (internal SD card)

Pkt_Lnt said:
ADB Backup
https://9to5google.com/2017/11/04/how-to-backup-restore-android-device-data-android-basics/
Google search link with 1.590.000 hits
My command line is:
Code:
adb backup -apk -shared -all -system -f C:/user/Pixel2XL/adb_backup/mmddyy.ab
This backs up all user apps and data, all system apps and data, and shared storage (internal SD card)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, you might want to include
Code:
-obb -keyvalue
*if you want to backup your games and any "apps that perform key/value backups"
What a great idea @Pkt_Lnt! I wish I realized this when I was planning to root and wanted to backup as best I could...
I'm purely just wondering, why include "-apk -shared" & "-system" when you have an option of "-all"? And isn't including "-f" meant to backup a specific file?
P.S. nevermind (on the -all & -system), after reading the help on the command, -all doesn't cover system apps...
Also, in terms of restoring.... would this method depend on root access for full restoration? does this method even backup settings and "personalizations" without root access (at least when backing up)?

simplepinoi177 said:
Actually, you might want to include
Code:
-obb -keyvalue
*if you want to backup your games and any "apps that perform key/value backups"
What a great idea @Pkt_Lnt! I wish I realized this when I was planning to root and wanted to backup as best I could...
I'm purely just wondering, why include "-apk -shared" & "-system" when you have an option of "-all"? And isn't including "-f" meant to backup a specific file?
P.S. nevermind (on the -all & -system), after reading the help on the command, -all doesn't cover system apps...
Also, in terms of restoring.... would this method depend on root access for full restoration? does this method even backup settings and "personalizations" without root access (at least when backing up)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 - I was trying to teach the poster above to fish, not trying to do the fishing for him. That said, I'm not a gamer, that "-obb" is not relevant to me.
2 - backup -f file Write an archive of the device's data to file.
This Reference
I do not see your "-keyvalue" in that ADB Command Reference doc, you might want to verify that before using it.
This is my actual command line from today. I'm on Linux, so I tried to make this easier for the Win crowd, knowing the tilde_backslash_path would throw 99% of those who might read this for a loop!
Code:
[email protected] ~ $ adb backup -apk -shared -all -system -f ~/Pixel2XL_adb_backup/backup05172018.ab
3 - ADB commands to not require root. Restore has always worked for me, and as you might guess, I have many "adb grant permissions" in use. :good:
For the rest of your questions, sorry I don't have time to do that research for you. All I use is the This Reference above, if that does not provide what you are asking, try this.

Pkt_Lnt said:
1 - I was trying to teach the poster above to fish, not trying to do the fishing for him. That said, I'm not a gamer, that "-obb" is not relevant to me.
2 - backup -f file Write an archive of the device's data to file.
This Reference
I do not see your "-keyvalue" in that ADB Command Reference doc, you might want to verify that before using it.
This is my actual command line from today. I'm on Linux, so I tried to make this easier for the Win crowd, knowing the tilde_backslash_path would throw 99% of those who might read this for a loop!
Code:
[email protected] ~ $ adb backup -apk -shared -all -system -f ~/Pixel2XL_adb_backup/backup05172018.ab
3 - ADB commands to not require root. Restore has always worked for me, and as you might guess, I have many "adb grant permissions" in use. :good:
For the rest of your questions, sorry I don't have time to do that research for you. All I use is the This Reference above, if that does not provide what you are asking, try this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool...thanks for answering what you could...I was merely curious; I didn't mean/intend/imply that you do the research for me or anything. Yea, I know absolutely nothing about Linux and it's environment; so I/we appreciate you converting it to the "windows crowd" as well as "spelling it out" for me in the format you wrote it all out in your post. I, myself, have root and use TWRP for the backups...I was just trying to expand the knowledge...
Thanks again!